#72-year-old woman killed in NYCHA apartment fire in NYC

A woman was killed when a fire broke out as she smoked in bed in her Upper West Side NYCHA apartment late Wednesday, according to authorities and police sources. 

The 72-year-old victim was found dead around 8 p.m. in her bed on the third floor of the Frederick Douglass Houses building on Columbus Avenue near West 102nd Street, police said.

The woman — who was smoking in bed and may have lit it on fire — was handicapped and couldn’t physically escape from her apartment, police sources said. 

She was pronounced dead on scene. 

The cause of the blaze will be determined by the city fire marshal. 

The woman was not immediately identified pending family notification.